Washington: Two large, complex sunspots have been spotted by astrophysicists moving across the face of the sun.
One, which produced considerable solar activity in the past weeks, has almost rotated off completely.
A new sunspot rounded into view on Nov. 11, 2013 and is now making its way across the Earth-side of the sun.
An active region can contain one or more sunspots. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration numbers active regions consecutively as they are observed on the sun.
Active region 1890 first appeared on Nov. 2, 2013, and is now almost out of view over the sun`s right-hand horizon.
It was the source for several mid-sized and significant flares while facing Earth. Its last significant flare, which occurred on Nov. 10, 2013, was classified as an X1.1-class flare.
Active region 1897 rounded the sun`s southeastern limb on Nov. 11, 2013, and like AR1890, is approximately the size of Jupiter.
